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It was going to happen eventually…
a few months ago they started putting a physical price tag on every item. That was the first clue.
I noticed last week that the store’s prices had went up considerably on a lot of items.
Then tonight, I found shoes marked up to $14.99.
now for the good news: I bought 4 pair of the $14.99 shoes. Why? Because the average resale value for them is…$250 each! Very high end nikes.
So on one hand I’m sad because the cogs of eBay selling continue to go up while alot of common item sale prices continue to go down.On the other hand, I’ve prepared myself for this moment by acquiring inventory at low prices and I’ve also raised my knowledge level to the point I can still find items with high resale value even if the cogs are higher.
it would be a crappy time for new sellers to enter the market. The barrier to entry is rising.
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Retro,
I have seen this at my Salvation Army for awhile. Some of their shoes get mark to as high as $40-$50 sometimes. But, usually they are in the $12- $20 range. If I see a pair I think is good, I will look it up. But, I just don’t shop there much anymore because I can get good shoes for much cheaper than that. Also, like you, I have a large inventory of items just ready to be listed, so I am not the least bit desperate to buy items. With as many items as I have to list, I am now on the look out for really cheap good items or pay good money for really high end items.
Mark
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it would be a crappy time for new sellers to enter the market. The barrier to entry is rising.
The cost to entry is rising, but the barrier to entry is so low compared to even three years ago. I think that’s why prices are higher: flipping and reselling is much more mainstream and accepted, and it’s so easy to sell — all you need is a phone, really. But there are still plenty of places to potentially find cheap inventory: small thrift stores, church sales, library sales, estate and yard sales.
To truly last at this, you need to have a range of skills and expertise. That knowledge base of what’s worth paying $15 at a thrift store is definitely important. The patience or wisdom to keep your money in your pocket instead of buying overpriced stuff is something that takes time to learn. And so does finding the right places to buy from, and finding new places when those start to dry up.
I don’t remember the last time I went to a Goodwill, or similar thrift store, and didn’t see at least one person (usually more) in there scanning stuff on their phone. I have to remember to look at faces when I see them. I would bet that it’s different people every time. That desperate hustle (the MAKE $20K in one week type of hustle) is like the P90X of selling online. Sure, it’s great for the first few weeks, but how many of them really, truly keep it up consistently for even a year?
But your knowledge base will keep you going this year and beyond.
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I used to live in the South and mostly sourced from thrift stores. Prices were reasonable, usually $5-6 flat rate for a pair of shoes (or jeans or other clothing) with frequent 50% sales so usually only $2-3 per item. Good hard goods were harder to find at these thrift stores but sometimes found a few things. I also went to some garage-sales but prices weren’t always good and competition was fierce –by 10AM most everything good was gone. Then I moved west and thrift stores have insanely high prices on shoes, $14.99 on the usual low end with some at $49.99 per pair. But garage sales are often crazy cheap and often have free piles with good stuff–and it is much more leisurely, with good stuff even on day 2 of most garage sales.
I wonder if the thrift stores I used to go to now have changed their pricing like Retro describes above.
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I suspect the process goes like this. Thrift shop sets prices too high. Sales drop off. Thrift shop is now full of “valuable” stock which can’t be thrown away, but which no-one wants to buy. Customers think the shop is getting stale, because they see the same old stuff just sitting there. Donations tail off, as donors start to wonder whether they should try selling granddad’s old shoes online, if secondhand shoes are so valuable.
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About two years ago my local Goodwill started to individually price every single item. Before that, it was a fixed price: every shirt $5.99 each, shoes $6.99 each, with the exception of a few higher end items behind the counter. They have taken the “every item gets a price tag” policy to the extreme – for example they will get a box of Xmas cards and individually price every single card with a sticky price sticker stuck right to the card. Someone donates a bag of old cabinet knobs – every single knob has a price sticker on it. It has really trashed the store shelves because items are no longer kept together in bags and boxes. The toy aisle is especially crazy – every single toy has a price on it rather than like-items being sold as a set. It’s made it too expensive and hard to find items that should have gone together. I’m hoping this policy doesn’t last much longer.
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My Goodwill will do this depending on who’s the manager. 90% of resellers buy shoes so its an easy area for the Goodwill to squeeze. That’s why I am a proud student of “list it and forget it” and having a big store. Shoes only resellers will eventually get squeezed out by certain managers.
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